G 2 5 2 & 3 3 2 2 = 3 a 2 So = z Zz & z q 8 seen in an old catalogue to create this beast of a bench with plenty of storage included Whe firs illustration Of this type of BE bench t can find is ina Melhuish catalogue from 1905. The Excelsior Patent workbench/cabinet sold for as litle as £13.10s, ‘winning a bronze medal in 1884 and a gold medal in 1890, and the tool kit ‘was a further $10, The illustration shows what a ‘grand affair it was, with six drawers, two cabinets and huge removable vice, stored. under the close-lown top. By coincidence it is almost the same size as the one described in this project. 1 always liked the look of them, and when I was offered a pair of, bench tops it got me thinking - 1 ‘can make one of those benchicabinets for myself! The tops came from a local college that had naturally thought woodwork was now out of date and closed the craft departments ~ ‘ypical of what happened to so many technical schools, and now we are Coli Vis inspired by an antique workbench paying the price for this stupidity. ‘This also turned out to be a good opportunity to use some of the wood. left over from previous jobs lying. around the workshop. It's amazing how the offeuts build up without a regular clear up. 34 WOODWORKING PLANS & PROJECTS ISSUE 75 ‘Top: Illustration of the bench on which {based mine, from the 1905 Melhuish Catalogue of Woodworkers’ Tools, ‘Machines and General Contractor's Appliances www.woodworkersinstitute.comAny Scandinavian-style bench top ‘would suit this project with appropriate adaptation to the design. They come complete with vices and bench dog holes always start a piece like this by making a simple working, drawing, then a cutting list, and with the two I can sort out, cut and plane the pieces required. The 75mm thick top is 1,200mm long and 300mm. wide, | extended this in width to form a well, making it 535mm overall. The legs and carcass are ash (Fraxinus excelsior); the top and panels are beech (Fagus sylvatica) and the ply inside is birch (Betula pendula). 1n fact the only thing I had to buy was the 8mm birch ply ~ a whole board was used. No elaborate machinery ‘was used in the making of this bench, ‘most of the jobs were done on my reliable Luna combination machine, with a circular saw, planer thicknesser and spindle moulder. ‘There is always a debate about the merit of a tool well, butt comes as standard ‘with this bench top pattern and does at least enable you to keep a clear working ‘area in front and tool storage when the lidis closed www.woodworkersinstitute.com ‘These elevations are all done separately on ordinary sheets of white Ad paper ‘ona simple homemade hardboard drawing board, which Ican perch on my lap while sitting in my armchair near the woodburner in my lounge! 1 began by cleaning up the secondhand top with a small hand-held electric planer, carefully checking at each stage that it was flat and not in a twist. I finished it off with a smoothing plane and a cabinet scraper ~ a Stanley No.80 with twin handles is perfect for this job. Two beech end pieces were made at each fend and a rail along the back where the lid will go. A bridle joint was ‘made on the back corners and the end pieces cut round and glued and screwed from underneath to the top. A small fillet was fixed low down on the inside faces to support the 6mm ply board to the well. In the example shown, the fixings in the form of small screws are underneath instead. ‘Many ready-made bench tops come fitted with wood faced vices as part of the design, so the decision about vice choice is already made for you. These vices work well so long as the metal and wooden threads are suitably lubricated ~ paste wax in the case of wood. ‘only used a fine cut setting to avoid ‘making the surface uneven and to avoi ‘several metal insert nuts. Constant checking between cuts is required 43NISVD TOOL8 HINISYOM S.NVW3UNSD Now the top was finished 1 could decide about the cabinets to go underneath. The top already had two g00d vices fitted and I could see no reason to change them. I suggest a medium-sized vi the Record 52% with 9in jaws would be more than adequate, and not to bother with the end vice which would be difficult to make . something like ‘The ash carcass and drawer fronts are glued up from 15mm reclaimed shelves, old stock left from Beaver and Tapley C gave to me. units a friend ‘The exterior of a bench end frame; this sets the size for the interior fittings Including the drawers |SSUE 75 WOODWORKING PLANS & PROJECTS 35 | >GENTLEMAN'S WORKBENCH & TOOL CABINET ‘The rebate for the ash panels is visible in this view The 50 x 50mm legs were planed up and the two front edges given Detail ofthe dovetail jointholdingthe One of the assembled carcasses ready a pencil-size radius, then simply legs apart. Note therebatetotakethe _tofit together with the linking rails rebated to take the ash front and back "Sh Panel in-between panels, and glued and screwed flush On the inside leaving the inside faces flat. This also set the drawer fronts back making room for feet under the bench. Cross rails at the top were dovetailed to the legs and mortised at the bottom to make frames for the doors at each end. Then a complete carcass was formed, by adding an 8mm birch ply back rebated into the ash so as not to show at the front, I now had the bare bones sorted and by spacing them apart 600mm the drawer area was formed. ‘Two more frames were made t0 support the carcasses; the top one is dovetailed as a feature and two larger rails span berween the mortised in, ‘168 The carcasses now in place showing the as yet unfittd left-hand one and simple drawer runners installed in the middle to take the wide tool drawers drawer runners to the cabinet sides, spaced out to suit the drawer sizes as shown on the drawings. Also think about what is going to go into these two cabinets now and make provisions for them, ie. trays to hold ‘small tools, as I have done. ‘The lid is made from an ash frame 75 x 20mm section, dovetailed on the corners with three panels of 10mm beech separated by narrow rails. I made it this way to use up some ply offcuts and give a The Inside ofthe lid shows the sectioned construction and the way all these lovely tools have fitted into it. Also note the spring catch atthe top for lacking the lid down it of interest and character to the onthe completed workbench appearance. 36 WOODWORKING PLANS & PROJECTS ISSUE 75 www.woodworkersinstitute.comBefore the lid is lowered a steel rod is oped through a hole in the bench top near {the front. This locks the centre drawers in position for safety if itis moved around The lid in the down position ‘makes the bench tidy looking and creates a useful surface when ‘not in use, The corners have exposed through dovetails cut by hand, ‘These are made from solid ash fronts and ply sides, back and. bottom. The fronts are only 14mm. thick - too thin for doverails - and ply is not good to dovetail anyway. Instead I chose to make a simple joint ‘entirely using the circular saw. I have ‘made drawers in this way for years ‘without any problems. The back-to- side joint is done by making a groove across the end on the saw and a rebate on the back forming a tongue. ‘The inside of the left traysin position www.woodworkersinstitute.com ‘The émm ply bottoms are grooved in about 6mm up from the bottom edge. After the drawer has been glued up a hardwood fillet is glued in flush to reduce wear (on the ply ‘These are made from an ash frame grooved all round on the inside edge to take a beech ply panel which is 4mm thick. I had to veneer these two panels in beech in order for them to match the rest of the bench. They are small enough to veneer by cramping between two MDF boards. The corner joints of the frames are then mortised and. tenoned. nd end door showing the simple appearance and also the tool ‘The slightly unusual drawer front joint is clearly visible as well as the drawer knobs which are based on the standard block plane knob design 43NISVD TOOL8 HINISYOM S.NVW3UNSD Birch ply in particularis ideal for drawer ‘onstruction on account ofits fine grain, ‘even flatness and pleasantness to handle The four small trays in the left- hhand cabinet are designed to hold the smaller tools that need to be stored but easy to find when required, ‘They can be lifted out easily and make best use of the space available. I like to use a combing joint on things like this and I fortunately invested in a set of spindle cutters many years ago for this purpose, but the joint shown ‘on the drawer backs would do just as, ‘well. The bottoms are grooved in all round and set almost flush with the bottom edge. The same ash was used but planed down to 10mm. state showing the comb jointed corners. This joint method is ine as not much stress is imposed on the trays as they are pulled out or pushed in |SSUE 75 WOODWORKING PLANS & PROJECTS 37 | >GENTLEMAN'S WORKBENCH & TOOL CABINET Stanley got knob design right; it doesn’t just work fora plane but drawers as well ‘The unusual custom-made sliding hinge arrangement that allows the lid to move from closed to upright position and is held open by two simple stays All the drawer knobs are made from rosewood (Dalbergia Jatifolia) and turned on the lathe to ‘match the front knob on Stanley block planes, which is perfect for the bench. ‘Then they are simply held by a screw from the inside of the drawer front, A partial rear view showing the back panel and the golden hue of the end and ‘top imparted by coating the light wood. with Danish oi! falling out! I wanted to arrange the top so it could be opened when the cabinet is up against a wall, rather than hinge it on the back rail and stand the cabinet about 100mm from any wall, This has been solved by ‘making two slotted plates that allow the top to slide forward then lift up level at the back. Two swingdown ‘arms hold it secure when the top is in the open position. Please refer to the detail drawing on page 40. The holding method for the chisels is conventional, it just requires care in slotting the rail so the chisels cannot come loose 38 WOODWORKING PLANS & PROJECTS ISSUE 75 Demonstrating how the lid sand lowers without any tools The lift up and slide hinge system works very easily. The design can always be modified slightly to suit your own circumstances, ‘The whole bench is given several coats of Danish oil to finish. This will help give a warm appearance apart from being hard- wearing, ‘This is the good bit, the cabinet is finished and now to choose what tools would be most useful and decorative in the lid. To start with, 1 wanted my best chisels at hand in the ‘same way as they are in the workshop; paring chisels to the left, next to the ‘everyday bevel edge chisels and a nice screwdriver. The rail holding the chisels is drilled to fit the ferrules of the handles and slotted only enough to allow it to be put in and taken out, otherwise they will fall out when the lid is lowered. The three saws ist drop into a fine slotted piece of ash and the other tools are held in a similar way. www.woodworkersinstitute.com{ Ris. a ‘Small brass strips with turned up ends act as the way to hold these tools in place. The holding screws need to be tight so the strips cannot turn unintentionally. In the right-hand cabinet are No.7 and No. plane, a large sliding square, a large sliding bevel, a trammel, hacksaws and on the door a few of the more often used tools. A neat set of ash drawers never looked better www.woodworkersinstitute.com ir | ound a neat solution to a problem using waste pieces of by Tt was a pleasure to actually make something for myself and have absolute control over the way it looks and works. 1 am very pleased with this project and the way it has turned out Tam told that at one was judged by the toolbox he made at the end of his apprenticeship ~ that was a long time ago in my case, but better late than never! ‘The all-in-one toolbox and workbench - highly functional Here's the right cabinet of my bench, of ‘course its entirely your choice which tools you sett up to contain ISSUE 75 WOODWORKING PLANS & PROJECTS 39 1ANIGVD TOOL 8 HINIEYOM S:NVWS UNSYour free combination workbench plan & Pe 6 106 + 90. 170 170 ° O° ° ° 3 210 1 00 Front Elevation fe} O° ° ° ° 100: 50 pe pcp —_____, BE e+ er End Elevation 1:10 aker=iees|Plans & Projects ——— Cutting List -Main components ‘TOP LO FRONTIBACK 2@ 1w0x75x22 ‘Tor Lb sioes. 2 @ sisx 70x22 TOP LID PANEL, 1@ ‘TOP FRONT BLOCK 1@ SIDES) 2@ 10 ‘TRay sorrow 1@ tees: 4@ soxsoxs0 ACK RALS 2@ 00x79 Back. 4 @ orexes0x 1p QUTERFRONTIBACKANELS 4 @ @i0x 195815 SE TOP ALS 2@ usxs02: SIDE BOTTOM RALS 2g arcosx2 be =3. Noe: 888s R835 a doe a 8 {nga atest rane No poset a ‘Section (through drawers) 1:10 ‘Simp op pr at bia a ————_f sees i Design Copyright = Colin Sullivan tes ma wing Una pasaefo prsra Desora may nate reroan carers Suse ‘tana pr conser he cop owner Gul of Master Cratsman Publications Lis 2012 Nopant me desl may be ephedra ate atm or ane am a ane wot ha pro Fame lpia an onan ‘nar The ued pla can op no pa responsi an conaence aig fe is Spteaion son eave rors Oren ow San. GMC Publications Ltd www.thegmcgroup.com